Human thermoregulation

Common card · No. 400781

Thermoregulation is an important aspect of homeostasis in both humans and mammals in general. In thermoregulation, body heat is generated mostly in the deep organs, especially the liver, brain, and heart, and in contraction of skeletal muscles. Humans have been able to adapt to a great diversity of climates, including hot humid and hot arid. High temperatures pose serious stress for the human body, placing it in great danger of injury or even death. For humans, adaptation to varying climatic conditions includes both physiological mechanisms resulting from evolution and behavioural mechanisms resulting from conscious cultural adaptations. There are four avenues of heat loss: convection, conduction, radiation, and evaporation. If skin temperature is greater than that of the surroundings, the body can lose heat mostly by radiation and conduction. But, if the temperature of the surroundings is greater than that of the skin, the body actually gains heat by radiation, convection and conduction...

Read on Wikipedia · Image explorebiology, CC BY 4.0